Sai Praneeth beaten in semis of New Zealand Open

IMAGE: India's B Sai Praneeth faded off after winning the first game comfortably against Jonatan Christie of Indonesia. Photograph: PTI

B Sai Praneeth went down fighting to second seed Jonatan Christie of Indonesia in the men's singles semi-finals of the New Zealand Open badminton in Auckland on Saturday.

The 25-year-old was the lone Indian left in fray in the tournament after making it to the semi-finals.

However, his run came to an end after he succumbed to a 14-21, 21-19, 21-8 loss in a match that lasted over an hour.

The Indian, seeded third, won the first game comfortably and was leading in the second, but Christie fought back, eventually winning two straight points when the score was tied at 19 to win the second game and force the match into a deciding third game.

Praneeth then struggled, as Christie dominated it to enter the final.

On Thursday, Praneeth hardly broke a sweat, needing just 28 minutes to quell the challenge of Sri Lanka's Niluka Karunaratne 21-7, 21-9 in the quarter-finals.

In the title clash, Christie will meet China's Lin Dan, who beat South Korea's Heo Kwang Hee 21-16, 21-16 in the other semi-final.